Electronic Data Interchange
The Interchange (UN/EDIFACT)

The Interchange is the outside envelope of an EDI document.  It is the structure that contains the start of business information to begin the trade exchange.  In EDIFACT, the interchange can start with the UNA service string advice, which specifies the delimiters to use in the document.  Otherwise, the interchange begins with the interchange header (UNB), followed by either one or more functional groups, one or more messages and/or one or more packages.  The interchange is then terminated with an interchange trailer (UNZ).  Note that the interchange can contain either only functional groups or only messages, but not a combination of both.

This topic covers:

• Interchange Header
• Interchange Trailer
• Syntax Levels